“I need to take a walk,” growls Joe as he storms into my office. “OK, let’s go,” I respond. Luckily it’s a nice sunny day. We walk quietly around the large parking lot together. I’ll be honest. I’m not thinking about what research is saying about this walk. I’m thrilled that…
Category: Behavior Specialist
NO MORE MESS!
My desk will stay clean! I am tired of piles of papers everywhere! In the upper left corner of my desk is the pile that I will get to eventually. The bottom left pile has papers I need to deal with now. Papers on the right corner are there because…
Analyzing Office Referral Data
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER! I certainly agree with that! When I worked as a behavior consultant, I spent hours and hours compiling office referral data. Our district wanted to analyze the data to look for trends. Thanks to my terrific sister, I was introduced to Excel Pivot Tables. I AM…
BAGGAGE: We all have it!
My 20 year-old son is spending the spring semester in Spain. We are all excited and looking forward to his adventures. Apparently traveling in Europe is inexpensive as long as one does not check any baggage. So he (and I) completely stressed on how he was to pack in one…
The Secret to Excellent Classroom Management…
…POSITIVE INTERACTION!!!! As a principal of an alternative school, I work with middle and high school students who have been caught with drugs, who have out-of-control behavior, or have mental health issues. I’m often asked how I “control” the students. I’m asked what consequences I use. I’m asked how we…
Effective Office Referral Forms
Welcome back. Last month I showed you how I level behaviors. I used these levels to develop office referral forms. It is important to have a well-developed office referral system. A well-developed system allows you to easily organize and analyze behavior. Before you can change behavior, you have to analyze…
SENT TO THE OFFICE? TAKE A NUMBER…
When I was Behavior Consultant in my school district, one of my duties was to review the office referral data in all the schools. I noticed the administrators were overwhelmed with the number of students being sent to the office for disciplinary reasons. In one school, students were sent to…
Anger Outbursts
Does it seem like your student explodes instantly? Actually there are many signs before an explosion. This handout, The Cycle of Anger, will help you and the student recognize these signs in order to avoid the explosion. Step 1: High Risk Situations-this identifies what was going on and where…
TIME OUT GUIDELINES
IMPORTANT: In order for time out to work, you must first understand the function of the student’s behavior. If his behavior is to avoid work, then time out is giving the student what he wants. Make sure the student has the skill to perform the task and try to motivate…
Line Up AND Learn Some Math!
“SHE CUT ME!” I heard that a number of times when students were lining up in my classroom. One of the worst possible crimes in elementary school is when a student cuts in line! Oh my! Other crimes while lining up were pushing, crowding, elbowing, complaining, name calling, etc. It…